Interspecific Competition between Small Rodents in Subarctic and Boreal Ecosystems

Henttonen, Heikki; Kaikusalo, Asko; Tast, Johan; Viitala, Jussi

doi:10.2307/3543596

Cited by 150 publications

(106 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Correlations might have been still better but the northernmost records in Fennoscandia were from the margins of the distribution of C. glareoIus and M. agrestis and there their abundance, and especially peak numbers, will be affected by interspecific competition from other small rodents (Henttonen and Hansson 1984). M. agrestis, for example, is forced into marginal habitats by M. oeconomus (Tast 1968;Henttonen et al 1977) and consequently the northernmost cyclicity index for M. agrestis was fairly low. Environmental heterogeneity in the transition zone is another error.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…But if microtines in northern Fennoscandia followed only the rhythms of their food plant species, for example, which are in fairly good but not in total synchrony, more interspecific variation in the decline should be expected among sympatric mierotine species due to specific feeding preferences. Instead, all sympatric microtine species (up to 8 species in a community) in northern Fennoscandia have the deepest low phase simultaneously (Hansson 1969; Tast and Kalela 1971; Henttonen et al 1977;Hansson et al 1978;Laine and Henttonen 1983;Henttonen in prep. ), a fact consistent with the role of specialist predators (small mustelids, cf.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Density compensation in the sense of Case (1975) is hardly applicable as resources generally diminish northwards and there is no evidence of such a compensation. Generalist predators should thus be least effective in regulating microtine populations in northern Fennoscandia (for long-term data on "typical microtine cycles" in northern Fennoscandia; see Tast and Kalela 1971;Lahti et al 1976;Henttonen et al 1977;Hansson 1979a;Hansson etal. 1978;Laine and Henttonen 1983).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Gradients in density variations of small rodents: the importance of latitude and snow cover

1985

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Summary.Microtine rodents are known to show extreme population variations (cycles) but non-cyclic populations have also been recognized during recent years. The cyclic populations have been widely thought to be regulated by intrinsic mechanisms. However, such predictions for cyclic populations are usually not applicable to non-cyclic ones and extrinsic factors may have to be included in any explanation.A hypothesis that the degree of fluctuations in small rodent numbers is related to the sustainable number of generalist predators was tested on mainly literature data by computing "indices of cyclicity" for local populations. These indices were related to latitude and snow cover (two measures) as these variables will affect the amount of alternative prey available for these generalists. Within Fennoscandia such indices for Clethrionomys glareolus and Microtus agrestis were clearly positively related to latitude and snow cover. The fraction of populations with summer declines in numbers, characterizing highly cyclic populations, increased in the same way. Cyclicity indices in Great Britain were similar to those in southern Fennoscandia, both areas being poor in snow, but were higher at the same latitudes in eastern Europe with more snow. Indices of density variations were generally low in North American Clethrionomys species and very variable in Microtus species.The gradients observed and differences between continents are interpreted as due to microtine-vegetation interactions in northern European areas poor in generalist predators but with important small mustelid predation, and to similar snowshoe hare-vegetation interactions in mainly Canada-Alaska, where small rodents may serve as alternative prey for numerically fluctuating hare predators, at least in the forests. Western European microtine populations, and probably many others, seem to be regulated by generalist predators.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Gradients in density variations of small rodents: the importance of latitude and snow cover

1985

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“…This species is competitively strong (Hoset & Steen 2007;Henttonen et al 1977) but could be displaced from the area around Łuknajno Lake by other competitively strong species, which is the yellow-necked mouse (Andrzejewski & Olszewski 1963;Gliwicz 1981;Kozakiewicz 1987;Kozakiewicz & Kozakiewicz 2008). Perhaps root vole, driven from the coastal areas by forest species growing in numbers, resettled from these areas to other parts in the vicinity of small water reservoirs created in hollows after obstruction of drainage tubing on the fields that have been set-aside.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fallowing of selected arable fields in a farmland mosaic affects processes on landscape level: a case study of small mammal communities

Kozakiewicz

Radzikowski

Ostrowski

et al. 2013

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Abstract. In 2008 on six 1-ha plots the structure and species diversity of small mammal community inhabiting a narrow belt of coastal zone of the Łuknajno Lake (Masurian Lake District, North-East of Poland) were studied. The results obtained were compared with the results of similar studies carried out in the same area in 1981, when still intensive agricultural activities were present around the lake (abandoned in 1991 by leaving the agricultural fields fallow). In comparison with 1981, a decrease in the number of species inhabiting the fringe of the lake was discovered, as well as some significant changes in the domination structure of the community. Currently, the dominant forest species -the bank vole Myodes glareolus (Schreber 1780) and the yellow-necked mouse Apodemus flavicollis (Melchior 1834) -replaced the most numerous in 1981 -the striped field mouse Apodemus agrarius (Pallas 1771). Taking into consideration the fact that environmental conditions at the coastal zone have not changed, it was suggested that the changes in the community of small mammals were caused by setting aside arable lands around the lake. The results obtained lead to the conclusion that the range of the ecological effects of local changes in the landscape mosaic may include an area much larger than the one directly affected by these changes. They constitute the basis for a discussion on the relationship between various elements of environmental mosaic in heterogeneous landscape.

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“…First, testis size may not only be affected by sperm competition level, but also by a densitydependent rise in competition for other resources, such as space and food. Our site of study is characterized by an exceptionally high number of co-occurring arvicoline species (n ¼ 8) that face competitive interactions [46,47]. During peak phases of synchronous population density oscillations, the habitats of these species increasingly overlap causing not only an increase in intraspecific, but also in interspecific interactions [48].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contrasting effects of large density changes on relative testes size in fluctuating populations of sympatric vole species

Klemme

Soulsbury

Henttonen³

2014

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Across species, there is usually a positive relationship between sperm competition level and male reproductive effort on ejaculates, typically measured using relative testes size (RTS). Within populations, demographic and ecological processes may drastically alter the level of sperm competition and thus, potentially affect the evolution of testes size. Here, we use longitudinal records (across 38 years) from wild sympatric Fennoscandian populations of five species of voles to investigate whether RTS responds to natural fluctuations in population density, i.e. variation in sperm competition risk. We show that for some species RTS increases with density. However, our results also show that this relationship can be reversed in populations with large-scale between-year differences in density. Multiple mechanisms are suggested to explain the negative RTS-density relationship, including testes size response to density-dependent species interactions, an evolutionary response to sperm competition levels that is lagged when density fluctuations are over a certain threshold, or differing investment in pre-and post-copulatory competition at different densities. The results emphasize that our understanding of sperm competition in fluctuating environments is still very limited.

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Interspecific Competition between Small Rodents in Subarctic and Boreal Ecosystems

Cited by 150 publications

References 4 publications

Gradients in density variations of small rodents: the importance of latitude and snow cover

Gradients in density variations of small rodents: the importance of latitude and snow cover

Fallowing of selected arable fields in a farmland mosaic affects processes on landscape level: a case study of small mammal communities

Contrasting effects of large density changes on relative testes size in fluctuating populations of sympatric vole species

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